The month of May in our Gardens.

Wind--
I am by NO means an expert om diagnosing problems. However--If the leaves looked like you describe on an Azalea or a Rhodo--I would say you have an Iron deficiency. I am not aware if a Clematis needs Iron....!
If it does--you can purchase it where all the garden supplements are sold. Or--believe it or not--some people just stick rusty old nails in the soil around the plant....Ar least that is FREE!

Might be a good idea to post a picture on the Vines Forum.....see what they say?

I have had a very small, struggling clump of Bee Balm in my "YUK" bed. It never does ANYTHING! Just a couple of stems...BUT------I must explain what my "yuk" bed is.....

It is my corner bed in the back yard. Only a few feet away from it is my HUGE Silver Maple....Need I say more? The roots are everywhere!!!!!! I cannot even dig in this bed! It is like hacking out a small hole to plant a plant in! I am slowly filling this bed with "indestructible, warrior" plants. Have purchased, and got a bunch more at he Swap----like:
Perennial Cosmos "Chocolate" and a Pink one. (I bought these here).
Perennial Coreopsis "American Dream" from Hart
Clustered Bluebells (from Hart)
And also a Veronica from someone else....

Already have in there---Shastas, Black-Eyed Susans--2 Butterfly Bushes--Sedum "Autumn Joy"--Asst. Daylilies--Pink Evening primrose--Spring Bulbs--etc.

Have a bird bath at one end and on each side of it is a Hellebore and in front are couple of small, perennial Ferns. And, only because it was planted ages ago--there are also 2 Peonies and a "Tropicana" Rose. How they survive--I have NO idea! Except, maybe, the bothersome roots of the Maple are the surface roots and they have theirs way deeper down.

Sorry about your Hydrangeas! They do not like dry conditions.....Do you have them in part shade? Morning sun at the worst? Afternoon sun is very hard on them....

This is the SW corner I am talking about....See how close the tree is?

Gita

Just bloomed yesterday...
eye of tiger dutch iris

hi flowerjen :) wowzers...I want to get that one!

HI! I got them from Breck's(I know a lot of people don't like to order from them, I've never had a problem with any of their stuff)

Chris- I hope you're handling the shingles- it can be very painful. Mom had it few yrs ago. so sorry it had to happen to you!

I have been out gardening, there has been 2 times where I had to come in and lay down in bed till the pain subsided, It felt like an intense cramp around the left side of my chest. Then I'd get up and put my gardening tools away for the day. It's just taking me longer to get things done.
I can't wait for the newly planted baby plants to take off and start to bloom. Last years Canterberry Bells are getting tall and setting blooms now. Hope I have some deep purple in the mix.

yes flowerjen, that iris is cool! I am down to only white dutch iris.
If anybody wants a huge bearded- this one is big all around and is fabulous IF you stake all the stalks which I have not done. I have enough for everybody- I'm going to reduce it this year and maybe move it next to the house and see if it'll stand up.
I think I need to take all my big iris clumps and just keep individual pieces , so I can space them through the flowerbed, instead ofthese big clumps that are then a big hole in July

I use those inexpensive metal posts with the open loop at the top to stake our iris. Usually home depot or any garden center carries them, at least around here they do. They work great and are pretty discrete. I have them in two heights and are always using them :)

Sally--you can also buy the pack of green, 4' tall, skinnu bamboo stakes for under $2 at HD. I use them and the Velcro plant ties. They are easy to move--open and close--and re-use over and over.....

I also cut these stakes in half and use them to keep my plastic rabbit fencing in place. I just weave it through the openings in the mesh.

Gita

Tee hee- you gals are so helpful. Problem is the part where ' I simply put the stakes in and tie them" I spend too much time in the garden thinking of what I should do than doing it. Because I usually feel like I should be doing something other than gardening.

Sally-----Don't feel like the Lone Ranger!!!!!

Every time i am doing something I enjoy--am absorbed in--I also am thinking that I should be doing something else.....More "important".......It is just one aspect of my ADD personality! I flit like a moth to a flame.....

I am constantly distracted, even when i am doing something that really, really needs to be done......I just "see" so many other things that need my attention as well--that sometimes it may be an hour or more before I get back to what I was doing in the first place!

This happens in my life ALL the time!!!!!! Inside--outside--at work---while I am doing crafts----you name it! It is TOTAL DISTRACTION that governs my life!!! And--everything that distracts me seems to be an equally important task......Then I forget what I was doing to start with.....:o(..."Attention Deficit"--get it?

The perfect diagnosis of ADD.

Gita

Gita

Oh,, I 'get' ADD verrrry well, no further explanation needed LOL
I will try to make a mental list tonight as I go to sleep
BTW first thing after ten AM is go back to DJ Liquidators for the last few botles of Bayer Systemic for HOuseplants at $1.49 per 2 oz
Second stop is Lowes for potting stuff- (the Fafard I had once bought at a nice nursery in Catonsville several years ago that has closed)
but hubby is off work tomorrow and is probaly making his own menta l list
Take Addy to dog park...

Plants at my DJ L were not especially cheap, and no soil, also no soil at Ollies this year.

Sally,

Do you have a "Good Stuff Cheap" anywhere near you?

I have always found--if nothing else--a 15K bag of Bayer Lawn Fertilizer there for $10. Believe me--I have an awesome lawn since I canceled my Lawn Service ans started doing it all myself. The heck with their $45 fee for 5 minutes of them guys scooting around on those motorized "things" and scattering the stuff all over the place--and nowhere all over the place! I had used them for 15 years--and finally had my fill of all this. Now I spread it myself--and my lawn is L-U-S-H!!!!!

When Elf came by to pick up her plants, she told me that she found 2 bags of Chesapeake Blue there. Bought them both! And this is when everywhere else was sold out!

Never know WHAT they will have......BUT--they are not as good as they used to be, merchandise wise. I go there maybe twice a year--and always see the same old c--p!
Nothing to excite me any more! Oh well--I am saving money!

I don't think there is a DJ's arounf here. Never heard of them.

Gita

We put clearance target brand fertilizer on the front lawn this year and it's looked the best in the 4 years we've been here.

flowerjen,

It is most likely made by one of the same big companies that are sold for more money.

In the last years, I have been using the "Bayer" fertilizer on my lawn. I find it in a discount store ("Good Stuff Cheap"), but I believe Lowes carries that brand...

All HD carries is Scotts and Vigoro--which is a HD proprietary brand and, usually, a few $$ cheaper than Scotts.

I have loved the results from the Bayer brand. However--I have had a Lawn Service for about 15 yrs. before I gave it up. Now I do it myself--take my time, make sure I don't skip, etc... That was my "issue" with the Lawn Service (and it was a reputable one--"NaturaLawn of America). They all had started riding around on these scooters and spewing the product haphazardly. Finally, I had enough of this and paying $45 per service call--when they were done scooting around in 5 minutes!

Gonna do a 2nd application soon.....too hot at the moment. Don't have too many weeds--so I will just fertilize.

Gita

FWIW, I find that alternating spreading corn meal gluten and composted leaf mould gives my grass that Lawn Service appearance without the synthetics.

Good stuff Cheap aka Ollies- yes I have. No potting mix this year tho!! shoulda bought five last yr....I seem to see some of the same items at DJ Liquidator-, wonder if they are same owner now. LOL even crappy discount stores are subject to corporate takeover??

jen thanks for the Tarjet tip.

wrightie- thanks for the CGM/compost tip- I remember your pictures were super of what you did with your lawn in a short time
Since our lawn got run over and redone, we have few weeds but hard soil. I have gotten DH on board with my needs more organic in the soil mindset. Of course we are mulching-mowing and I will also be sprinkling with leaf mold

Well, since May is over in ten hours hope nobody minds that this is totally off topic- and I have closed the veg garden gate so this item is NOT in my garden for the month of June

Awwwwwwwwwwww - she is becoming a BIG dog :-)

here she is helping me divide daffodils
what German for "gently pull apart"?

LOL

careful - vorsichtig :-)

Sally--in Latvian--it is "Uzmanigi!" (careful!).

AND--"Good Stuff Cheap" is NOT the same a "Ollies"! Two totally separate stores--alike in their merchandise, but NOT the same! Ollies is a bit more expensive in their products! I know you have an Ollies in Glen Burnie--but I do not think there are to many "Good Stuff Cheap's" around.
As usual--living in this wonderful area I live in--I have TWO G.S.C.'s about 15-20 min. from my house. Ollies is a tiny bit further.....maybe 20 minutes? ...:o)

In my humble opinion--Good Stuff Cheap has taken a serious "dive" in the past several years! Just NOT the same it used to be! Ollies seems to be holding it's own! Best place in the World to buy books--of any kind!

Gita

sally, love your doggie :) we're big animal lovers here
today we had thunder storms and our dog was afraid as we were all gardening in the rain.

My friends, friend ~ Norman, just lost his dog who got hit by a car on Memorial Day after running away from fear of fire crackers. I felt so bad. He is a senior fellow and his dog was his companion. I wish people did not use fire crackers so much, it really disturbs the animals so...

Wrightie: The only reason I have hesitated to use corn gluten is I heard it would build up a residual pre-emergent effect -- and I worried that since I reseed in the fall, the seeds wouldn't "take." How has your re-seeding gone? And when do you apply the CG?

Gita- then again we have a Big Lots- pays to shop around I still have a red berry wreath on the front door from Xmas clearance there

wind- so sad. maybe he can get placed with a new pet, sometimes we see mature dogs at pound who just look like an older owner had to give them up.

Happy - I will have to read up on that as I have not heard that. When I am 'on the ball', I just time it so that the CMG doesn't overlap with any over-seeding that I may do. Re-seeding in the Fall, then putting down the CMG in late Winter/early Spring as a pre-emergent has worked fine for me. My turf is definitely not weed-free, but I can live with that. I routinely receive compliments on the grass from my neighbors, so that indicates that something must be wRight?

The first year that I switched over to doing things organically, I alternated CMG, compost, and dried manure (cockadoodle doo product line) a few times. I also rented a core aerator twice/year to work the amendments into the clay, but I haven't done that in over a year. Now, I'm lucky if I get the CMG down once per year (in the Spring), but we always topdress with compost in Spring & Fall minimally.

our feverfew started blooming today :)

Wrightie: Thanks so much - that's just what I wanted to know. I'll definitely switch over. We actually had bought some corn gluten, and then back pedaled because I was worried about overseeding.

My feverfew is blooming too!

hey flowerjen- I love target clearance stuff! I'm always looking for those orange tags

I had to choke when I watched a lady at Wallmart with lawn frt, weed killer, lawn bug killer, and I think another form of spread it all over chemical---hard to resist warning her she might just light up when all those chems get going. !

I even hate the smell going through "those" aisles...but there have been times I've had to use BATS on things....aphids!!! YUCKO

I love those pic's, Sally! Not sure how I blew passed them before. Sheesh.